Newsletters: Newsbites

SANS NewsBites is a semiweekly high-level executive summary of the most important news articles that have been published on computer security during the last week. Each news item is very briefly summarized and includes a reference on the web for detailed information, if possible.

Spend five minutes per week to keep up with the high-level perspective of all the latest security news. New issues are delivered free every Tuesday and Friday.

Volume XVII - Issue #22

March 20, 2015

A great program to help solve the advanced cyber skills shortage: Air Force veterans who excelled in the SANS Talent Exam are now at the halfway point in their intensive SANS training for careers in cybersecurity. Employers interested in hiring one of these outstanding US Air Force veterans are encouraged to contact Max Shuftan at mshuftan@sans.org. Additional information about the Academy is available at http://www.sans.org/cybertalent/immersion-academy.

STORM CENTER TECH CORNER

STORM CENTER TECH CORNER*********************** Sponsored By Symantec *************************** Symantec Webcast: Cloud Security - Top Fundamentals You Need to Know, March 24th at 10am PT -The cloud is forcing us to rethink security. The fact that information flows freely outside of the enterprise and back again means we need to consider how we secure that information. Join guest speaker Pete Lindstrom from IDC and Symantec for discussion on the fundamentals. http://www.sans.org/info/176012 **************************************************************************

TRAINING UPDATE

-SANS 2015 | Orlando, FL | April 11-April 18, 2015 45 courses. Bonus evening presentations include Understanding the Offense to Build a Better Defense; and The Law of Offensive Countermeasures, Active Defense, or Whatever You Wanna Call It plus a major Expo http://www.sans.org/u/Wq

-Security Operations Center (SOC) Summit | Washington, DC | April 24 - May 1, 2015 | Join chairmen Dr. Eric Cole and Jim Goddard as well as others who have faced similar challenges in increasing their enterprise's situational awareness and monitoring as well as responding to threats. 4 courses including the NEW SEC511 Continuous Monitoring and Security Operations course http://www.sans.org/u/1ro

TOP OF THE NEWS

Document Reveals China has Special Cyber War Units (March 18, 2015)

Officials in China have long denied US allegations of cyber espionage. However, a publication from a high-level People's Liberation Army research institute indicates that China's military and intelligence organizations have units that focus on cyber war. -http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/18/china-reveals-its-cyber-war-secrets.html[Editor's Note (Murray): "Officials in the US have long denied Chinese allegations of 'cyber espionage.'" Welcome to the 21st Century where this is what nation states do. ]

D-Link is releasing firmware patches to fix vulnerabilities in certain network cameras and wireless range extenders. D-Link issued fixes for flaws in its networking gear earlier this month. -http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/18/dlink_patches_yet_more_vulns/-http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/377348[Editor's Note (Murray): I find it hard to believe that the owners of these "home appliances" will ever be aware of this vulnerability, much less replace firmware to fix it. The remedy should be a "recall," not a "patch." This is an early example of the problems of the "Internet of things." I am an advocate of doing it right early, as contrasted to late discovery and patch. That said, whichever way we go, we need a policy and a strategy to implement it. ]

Windows 10 Will be Free Upgrade, and Will Support Biometric Authentication (March 17 & 18, 2015)

Windows 10, which is expected to be available later this year, will be offered as a free upgrade to users running Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, even if the versions currently being run are pirated. Windows 10 will also support biometric authentication. Users will be able to authenticate with fingerprints and iris and facial scans. Users may opt -in to the feature, known as "Windows Hello." -http://www.informationweek.com/software/operating-systems/windows-10-eliminates-passwords/d/d-id/1319507-http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-to-add-enterprise-grade-biometric-security-to-windows-10/[Editor's Note (Pescatore): The biggest barrier to moving beyond reusable passwords has not really been user resistance to the idea, it has been the lack of "readers" built into the devices (like PCs, phones, tablets) that they use. Being forced into YATC (Yet Another Thing to Carry) like a SecurID card or an enormous Smart Card *and* a reader has been and always will be a deal killer. But all major mobile platforms support text messaging as a second factor *and* various forms of biometrics; users are starting to find their own value in moving beyond just a password. This does not solve the federated identity problem by any means, but can significantly raise the barrier against phishing. ]

John Pescatore was Vice President at Gartner Inc. for fourteen years. He became a director of the SANS Institute in 2013. He has worked in computer and network security since 1978 including time at the NSA and the U.S. Secret Service.

Shawn Henry recently retired as FBI Executive Assistant Director responsible for all criminal and cyber programs and investigations worldwide, as well as international operations and the FBI's critical incident response. He is now president of CrowdStrike Services.

Stephen Northcutt teaches advanced courses in cyber security management; he founded the GIAC certification and was the founding President of STI, the premier skills-based cyber security graduate school, www.sans.edu.

Dr. Johannes Ullrich is Chief Technology Officer of the Internet Storm Center and Dean of the Faculty of the graduate school at the SANS Technology Institute.

Ed Skoudis is co-founder of CounterHack, the nation's top producer of cyber ranges, simulations, and competitive challenges, now used from high schools to the Air Force. He is also author and lead instructor of the SANS Hacker Exploits and Incident Handling course, and Penetration Testing course.

Michael Assante was Vice President and Chief Security Officer at NERC, led a key control systems group at Idaho National Labs, and was American Electric Power's CSO. He now leads the global cyber skills development program at SANS for power, oil & gas and other critical infrastructure industries.

Mark Weatherford is a Principal at The Chertoff Group and the former Deputy Under Secretary of Cybersecurity at the US Department of Homeland Security.

William Hugh Murray is an executive consultant and trainer in Information Assurance and Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Sean McBride is Director of Analysis and co-founder of Critical Intelligence, and, while at Idaho National Laboratory, he initiated the situational awareness effort that became the ICS-CERT.

Rob Lee is the SANS Institute's top forensics instructor and director of the digital forensics and incident response research and education program at SANS (computer-forensics.sans.org).

Tom Liston is the Principal Information Security Architect for Warner Brothers Entertainment, a handler for the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center, and co-author of the book Counter Hack Reloaded.

Dr. Eric Cole is an instructor, author and fellow with The SANS Institute. He has written five books, including Insider Threat and he is a founder with Secure Anchor Consulting.

Mason Brown is one of a very small number of people in the information security field who have held a top management position in a Fortune 50 company (Alcoa). He leads SANS' efforts to raise the bar in cybersecurity education around the world.

David Hoelzer is the director of research & principal examiner for Enclave Forensics and a senior fellow with the SANS Technology Institute.

Gal Shpantzer is a trusted advisor to CSOs of large corporations, technology startups, Ivy League universities and non-profits specializing in critical infrastructure protection. Gal created the Security Outliers project in 2009, focusing on the role of culture in risk management outcomes and contributes to the Infosec Burnout project.

Alan Paller is director of research at the SANS Institute.

Brian Honan is an independent security consultant based in Dublin, Ireland.

David Turley is SANS operations manager and serves as production manager and final editor on SANS NewsBites.

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